Emily Brown
After first getting hooked on vapes a couple of years ago, former Geordie Shore cast member, Ryan Taylor, got to the point where he was finishing one Elux 3500 every single day. Now, he's gone cold turkey.
If you're unfamiliar with different kinds of e-cigs, an Elux 3500 contains, in theory, 3500 'puffs'. It would probably last most people a few days, but not Ryan.
He first got hooked on vaping in Ibiza a couple of years ago, and when he found himself making his way through two Elf bars a day, he decided to switch to the larger Elux.
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Documenting his story on TikTok, Ryan got some criticism from people claiming there was no way he could make his way through a whole Elux 3500 in one day - but he explained he's 'very used to being in places where [he] could do it all day'.
He could vape while sat at his desk working, during the 45 minute car ride to and from the office, and whenever he was at home.
"It's constant, all day. The second I leave the gym, I vape walking to the car... I was literally popping it from the minute I got up to the minute I went to bed," Ryan told LADbible.
Between him and his girlfriend, the pair would spend £100 a week buying 11 Elux 3500s - 11 for the price of 10. Since January, that added up to more than £2,000.
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However, it wasn't until they booked to go away that the amount they were spending was put into perspective.
"We've just booked an all inclusive holiday, four star, and I turned around to her and said 'if we didn't vape for two months, that's that paid for,'" Ryan recalled.
Realising that they could be missing out on some good holidays, the couple decided to quit altogether, with Ryan knowing he couldn't be a 'part time' vaper.
It's now been three weeks since the pair gave up, and it's been a bit of a rollercoaster.
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For the first week, Ryan said he 'felt like [he] lost everything that was good about [him]' due to his entire inability to sleep. He was getting about one or two hours a night in comparison to his usual seven or eight, meaning he wasn't mentally alert or able to think or react quickly. Even though he'd be tired from a day at work, he just 'couldn't switch off'.
"I think for me, not being able to sleep was because I was thrown so out of routine," he said.
Meanwhile, his girlfriend was '1000 degrees all the time', prompting Ryan to sleep in a different room because he couldn't cope with the heat coming off her.
Another unexpected side effect for Ryan was jealousy - not of relationships, but of people smoking cigarettes.
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"The whole time I vaped I didn't want to smoke, and now I'm very jealous when I see someone with a cigarette, which is weird," he explained.
He's admitted that he doesn't think him and his girlfriend would have gone so long without vaping if they didn't have each other to spur each other on, but he's also managed to find other ways to cope without the constant puffing of smoke.
Three weeks on, Ryan is now sleeping better and he's noticed some positive side effects of quitting, including better cardio fitness, and, of course, saving money.
He's 'just as alert as [he] used to be', and to help him through he now relies on chewing gum and mints, as well as trying to keep himself distracted whenever he would usually have spent time vaping.
"It's a harder withdrawal than you think, 100 percent," he said. But after everything he's been through, he added: "I definitely do encourage people not to do it."
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LADbible has contacted Elux for comment.